Filling Out Forms

Another in a series of posts drawn from ielanguages.com, an incredible, free on-line French language resource created by Jennie Wagner, an English lecturer at the Université de Savoie in Chambéry, France. Jennie has graciously allowed Posted in Paris to repost several of her tutorials. Make sure you follow the links in each post back to her site for the sound files.

Ah French bureaucracy. Can’t avoid it. There are forms to be filled out everywhere — at the bank, la poste, the prefecture, school, even the grocery store. Here are a couple of key vocabulary words to remember. Click here to go directly to the ielanguages site for the sound files for some of these words. Scroll down to “Filling Out Forms.”

contact information: les coordonnées

last name: nom

first name: prénom

maiden name: nom de jeune fille

address: adresse

birthdate: date de naissance

place of birth: lieu de naissance

ville: city

pays: country

nationality: nationalité

marital status: situation de famille

single: célibataire

married: marié(e)

divorced: divorcé(e)

widowed: veuf (veuve)

Signed [city] … date: Fait à … le

birth certificate l’acte de naissance

passport: le passeport

visa: le visa

residency card: la carte de séjour

receipt: le récépissé

application: le formulaire / la candidature

enrollment form: la demande d’inscription

Remember the date format in France is day/month/year instead of month/day/year and that you generally capitalize your last name, but not your first name: Jean-Paul BOUCHER.

And keep in mind that 99 percent of the forms you fill out will start with “nom” ( which is your last name) first.

2 responses to “Filling Out Forms”

Ah French bureaucracy!… You’ve succeeded when you ONLY have to go back ONCE to the administration you r dealing with – getting eveything you need in a single visit is the Holy Grail of French administration!